The two knights' joint assault left all who watched it spellbound.
They came from different countries, held different statuses. Their upbringing and the swordsmanship they'd honed were different.
Even their physiques were opposite, making it hard to imagine they could understand each other well.
Yet in this moment, the two moved like perfectly interlocking gears.
Kurui could do nothing but defend.
If he so much as attempted a clumsy counterattack, a blade flying in from the opposite side would skewer him.
"Ackuak! Kuak!"
Orcbal tried to intervene to help Kurui.
The knights who had been staring blankly at the scene finally snapped back to their senses.
"Stop him!"
They shouted until their voices tore, rushing to block Orcbal.
An eighteen-year-old prince was holding off the most dangerous enemy. It was a disgrace for any knight.
But none of them had the confidence to fight alongside Jose like that prince did.
So they had to at least do what they could.
They would not let Orcbal step in and ruin that fight.
"If needed, even at the cost of our lives."
Laurent murmured.
That sentiment was shared by every knight present.
The prince had charged into the jaws of death without hesitation—how could a knight dare hold back?
A brutal battle erupted.
"Damn it."
Laurent let out a rare curse.
A knight died before him. A comrade who, until recently, had stood in line with him holding a food tray.
He could still see the face of the man, who had once talked endlessly about what they'd do after the Allied Army disbanded.
Yuri's quiet voice came to mind.
'We're just doing the bare minimum of what's right.'
Had he known all along?
That prince was younger than Laurent. Yet he already had a clear understanding of what war meant, of what it meant to stake one's life in battle.
Laurent took a step forward.
And immediately, Orcbal's attention locked onto him. Two or three Orcbals swung their weapons at him.
The malice pressing in from all sides was too much to handle alone.
Laurent deflected one and dodged two. Then stepped back again.
Pushing forward alone—it was that difficult.
Was this what Yuri had been enduring alone on the front line?
That meaning etched itself into Laurent's heart.
He gripped his sword tightly.
The mana method of House Flandre awakened. Mana bloomed outward like pure chrysanthemums, radiating in all directions.
He stepped forward again.
The corner that jutted out from the formation had to face fierce resistance. But Laurent did not retreat.
Instead, he advanced even further.
"Briol!"
Shouting that name, Laurent raised his sword straight.
The wild attacks of the orcs had no pattern. Laurent trusted his instincts and focused on the moment.
Two axes clashed with a single sword.
Laurent let the impact roll through him and spun half a turn forward.
He closed in on Orcbal and used the creature as a shield to avoid the other attacks.
The flustered Orcbal tried to slam down on him. But Laurent's sword struck first. The blade, infused with sword aura, tore through the armor and drove in deep.
Orcbal looked down at Laurent in disbelief, then collapsed.
The Orcbals swarmed to grab Laurent.
The moment the Orcbal formation that had been holding the line against the knights collapsed.
The Rose Knight Order did not miss that opening.
The tip of a spear that breaks taut tension only leaves penetration to follow.
The knights surged forward and struck down their enemies.
Weapons clashed, and life and death bloomed and withered again and again.
In the center of the battlefield, Laurent felt oddly serene.
Yuri was risking his life fighting. Then he, too, had to be standing on the line of death.
A halberd's axe blade grazed his ear. Laurent, by a hair's breadth, sliced off an Orcbal's head.
Had he been late, he would've died.
Had he ever fought such a battle, dodging death by the narrowest of margins?
As he felt the mana coursing through his body, Laurent glanced sideways.
Through the hideous faces of Orcbal, he saw Yuri and Jose fighting Kurui.
Their battle looked even closer to death than his.
But there was nothing he could do.
All Laurent could do was raise his sword and shout:
"Briol!"
***
Yuri felt like he was doing acrobatics in a circus.
So long as he followed the set routine, he could survive, but even a minor mistake would ruin the rhythm and plunge a blind dagger into him.
Every moment fighting Kurui was a tightrope walk.
If he lost focus for even a split second, he would lose balance and take a blow from the axe.
Yuri shouted.
"Jose! Can we win this?"
"I don't know!"
He was using his innate reflexes and instantaneous speed to check Kurui, but it was purely a supporting role.
It was Jose who was directly confronting Kurui.
Yuri kept pressuring Kurui, to create openings for Jose—or to keep him from falling into danger.
"Huu…"
Kurui paused his movements and caught his breath.
In that moment, Jose spoke.
"Your Highness, did you by any chance receive assassin training?"
"What nonsense is that?"
"You're really good at hit-and-run…"
"I'm doing it for your sake, you idiot."
Yuri had been seen sneaking between knights and stabbing enemies even before Kurui showed up. But there was no time for more jokes—the situation was dire.
Jose just smiled.
"I see."
"That's what it is."
Kurui was incredibly strong.
Jose thought back to the past.
He had trained relentlessly.
He never rested on his natural strength, instead devoting himself to his mana method, repeating movements tens of thousands of times to understand the meaning behind each technique.
He'd poured in endless effort, driven by a single-minded desire to grow stronger.
But Kurui was the same.
The countless scars on his body told the story. He was a warrior who had fought relentlessly his whole life. Perhaps his path had been even harsher.
That was why Jose felt sure.
If he defeated this opponent, he would rise to the next level.
Then, perhaps, the throne of the ten strongest would finally come within reach.
"Your Highness,"
Jose said.
"I'll handle him."
He meant he would face Kurui one-on-one.
Meeting Kurui's gaze, which flicked between him and Jose, Yuri asked:
"You sure?"
"Yes."
"Think it's better to fight alone?"
"I do."
If it had been a clumsy knight who said that, Yuri would've snapped at him to cut the nonsense.
But this was the man destined to earn the title of Bursen's strongest, and even claim a seat among the ten strongest.
"…Fine."
Yuri lowered his sword.
"Sir Jose. May I offer you a piece of advice?"
"As much as you like."
Jose had built a brilliant legacy in his previous life, while Yuri had been nothing more than a mercenary who lost his country and wandered in misery.
Yet, at this moment, Yuri felt compelled to say just one thing to Jose.
Though he had wasted his life, the talent he inherited from Fiore was the real deal.
"Don't worry about what's behind you. If you die, I'll make sure to kill this bastard myself."
Jose had a generous heart.
So generous, in fact, that he couldn't give his all against Kurui out of fear that if he failed, another knight might be endangered.
He might not have realized it himself, but Yuri, who had fought alongside him, could feel it clearly.
Yuri rested Guilty on his shoulder and smiled confidently.
"Yuri Briol swears it. So, Sir Jose, stake your life without hesitation."
The certainty that it was okay to die—
That's what Yuri gave him.
Jose was silent for a moment, then finally raised his sword and burst into laughter.
It was so bold and exhilarating that Kurui's face twisted in response.
"Thank you, Your Highness."
Yuri's role ended there.
He stepped back.
Kurui glanced back at Yuri, but didn't charge at him. For Kurui as well, it was probably better to have that troublesome human gone.
But that was Kurui's mistake.
Jose's presence changed completely.
"Now, I…"
Yuri turned his eyes elsewhere.
A fierce battle was breaking out between the Orcbal who were trying to kill humans and help Kurui, and the knights who were trying to stop them.
There was no more time to spare.
Yuri immediately targeted the back of the nearest Orcbal.
"Akuaakkai!"
"Yeah, it's me, you bastard!"
The energy of heart-soul slash stirred. Yuri stabbed Guilty in.
Another Orcbal nearby jumped in.
"You get lost too, unless you want to die!"
Yuri dodged and swung Guilty again. It was a seamless combo, like a painting in motion.
He could feel that this strange mana method he had learned was growing stronger with each breath.
It wasn't just because he was in a life-and-death battle.
The battlefield was a place where willpower manifested more fiercely than anywhere else. As Yuri clashed swords with the enemy, he could almost reach out and touch the swirling emotions.
Heart-soul slash was growing, feeding on that malice and agony.
The stronger the opponent's hatred, the sharper Guilty became.
What used to be a struggle to fight even one Orcbal—he now handled them with ease.
"Laurent!"
Yuri called out to his loyal knight, who was fighting a little ways off.
"Yes!"
"What the hell are you doing? Is that all my knight can do?!"
Yuri's provocation hit Laurent harder than anything else.
Laurent's expression stiffened as he readjusted his grip. Then he charged toward the Orcbal and unleashed a dance of blades.
It was an unusually aggressive style for him.
Blood splattered.
As the Orcbal collapsed, Laurent turned to Yuri with a broad smile. Blood was smeared across his face.
Yuri curled his lips upward in response.
"Briol!"
Yuri shouted.
His voice, like magic, amplified the morale of the knights.
The moment Yuri stepped in, Briol's offensive grew more intense.
The knights gradually pushed the Orcbal back.
Yuri glanced behind him.
Kurui and Jose were clashing like wild beasts.
If Jose was a clever bear, then Kurui was a seasoned tiger.
Each time they collided, the sound of thunder echoed.
"Just hold on, at least!"
Yuri shouted.
As long as Kurui remained pinned down, the longer the fight continued, the more the Allied Army would push forward. That alone was enough to turn the tide of victory.
"Kill them!"
The scales tipped.
It felt like the goddess of victory had chosen to raise the hand of the Allied Army.
And then, that moment, something unexpected happened.
From the corpse of a fallen Orcbal, black smoke began to rise.
Yuri immediately stepped back.
"Magic?"
No, that couldn't be.
The mages of the Allied Army, including Ernando, were maintaining suppression spells. Casting magic on a battlefield was no easy feat.
But there was no other way to explain what he was seeing.
A strange energy radiated from the dark smoke rising from the corpses.
"Everyone, back away from the bodies!"
The remaining Orcbal forces, locked in formation, were also consumed by madness. Just like when they used the red gem, their eyes turned a bloody red.
He wanted to summon Ernando immediately and question him. But Ernando would be in the rear, maintaining the dispel spells.
And surely, the same applied to the orc shamans—so how could this be happening? What kind of shaman was behind this?
"Damn it…"
Yuri cursed and raised his eyes.
Then flinched as he instinctively raised Guilty.
Some distance away, the same dark, hazy figure of the orc shaman he had encountered in the camp last night was now watching the battle unfold.
Yuri wanted to approach him, but an Orcbal swung its weapon at him.
Its eyes glowed red, and both its power and speed had clearly increased.
He barely dodged in time, but even the wind pressure left him with a scratch.
The aura they emitted was enough to make his bones ache.
"If the Orcbal are like this…"
Yuri swung Guilty to block the attack and checked on Jose.
Then he shouted.
"Sir Jose!"
Kurui's axe was coming down on Jose.
It sank into his shoulder.
Jose twisted his body and collapsed to his knees.
For a brief moment, Yuri's attention was split—and he failed to notice the black shaman's approach.
The shaman grabbed Yuri by the throat.
He couldn't breathe.
His mind blurred.
But he didn't let go of Guilty.